...Lament for a Son: Stages of Grieving When a family loses one of them, the issue presents a period of difficulty for every person especially when they lose the hope that they will ever meet again. Grief presents various challenges to the individual that loses a person and can lead them to difficult situations that include depression (Brown, 2010). Different circumstances result in the death of the loved ones, and their variations also present differing ways that their family and friends will react to the issues. Nicholas Wolterstorff reflects on the periods and events that ensued in his life after the loss of his son Eric in the book Lament for a Son. The narrative is an important reflection of the steps that a person undergoes as a part of the grief process and their path to acceptance. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross reflects on the five stages of grief that people experience, and it is essential to determine how they appear in Nicholas Wolterstorff’s text. Wolterstorff publishes this book to honor the death of his son Eric that occurred during a mountain climbing expedition. The first parts of the book provide a connection with the first stage of grief that is denial. The author narrates on how he had to travel across the ocean to see and collect the body of his Son in disbelief of the event (Wolterstorff, 1987). The author shows his denial when explaining how he touched his son's body in doubt if it was Eric himself or someone else. That reflects the common characteristics of individuals...
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...Introduction The occurrence of death marks the end of the life process for all living beings. It is a devastating event that is all too familiar to those in the healthcare field. For the loved ones that are left behind, grief and mourning are universal emotions that are experienced when coping with a loss of such magnitude (Axelrod, 2014). The writer will address the five stages of grief as experienced throughout Lament for a son, written by Nicholas Wolterstoff, who lost his twenty-five year old son in a mountain climbing accident. The Five Stages of Death Life and death are two aspects of the same reality (Corr & Corr, 2012). Bereavement is the period of mourning and grief that occurs after the death of a loved one. How one expresses their grief is unique to each individual. According to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1969), there are five stages of grief as described in her book On Death and Dying. The first stage is denial, which is the response experienced when an individual first learns of the death of their loved one. The second stage is anger, which includes one becoming angry at God and asking Him why did this happen to their loved one. The third stage is bargaining, which can range from the survivor thinking if things went differently, the individual would still be alive to bargaining with God, that if He allowed their dying loved one to live, they would change their ways. The fourth stage is depression, due to despair, the survivor may desire giving up on life because...
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...August 22, 2015 In this essay I will be completing my report from the book “Lament for a Son” not only written but also lived by Nicholas WolterstorffIn. In this book the author/character talks about his painful recollection and how his life has changed since his son that was 25 year old has pass away from a climbing accident in Austria. While reading the book I was able to transcribe how the author exhibited the different stages of grief which he is was experiencing. Toward the end of the book and where author was able to find peace through the faith he had in God. Nicholas the author account of the occurrence and grief-stricken is upright and stunningly written. I feel that he had written the book true character and stories to motivate others who is experiencing loss. There is five stages of grief that is expressed in telling his life story, they signify how the stages help lead the author to find joy after his loss. The author was able to explain the allusion and connivance of death in light of the Christian description and how the hope of the reappearance/ return to life, played a role in consoling Wolterstorff. This story started off with the author receiving a phone call, in regards to his son Erick falling to his death. He immediately heads to where his son resided so that he can claim Eric's his sons body, after arriving where his sons body laid the author was advised not to see his son, because it was scrawled and mangled by the accident. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross...
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...Stages of Grief Human is made of different emotions. It is impossible to live social life without emotions inhuman. Human often identifies negative and positive emotions. Happiness, joy and laughter are considered as positive emotions where anger, grief and pain are consider as negative emotions. Sometimes we do not realize that negative emotions can also guide us towards positive event in life. In Lament for a son authors replications are similar with this theory. These great thinker studies the death of Eric by indirectly explaining the five stages of grief. Wolterstorff experiences the pain and finds that no one can take his son place, but it is up to living family members how they can agree on death reality. His argument shows journey of suffering father changed to acquiescent person who accepts that endless knowledge and thinks that almighty does everything for a reason and individual must accept to understand life in better way. Before understanding dilemma of Wolterstorff and his idea about anguish, it is significant to analyzed and recognize five stages of grief which are described by Ross in a book of Death and Dying. Every individual passes through thru grieving stages during their life time but it is might not happened in same order of stages as describe by Ross. In the beginning, death of close loved one creates misbelief from reality, which is considered as denial and isolation stage according author Ross. Knowing the truth that the reality will give them...
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...after the death in 1603 of his eldest son, Benjamin, aged seven. The poet addresses the boy, bidding him farewell, and then seeks some meaning for his loss. Jonson blames himself, rhetorically at least, arguing that he hoped too much for his son, who was only on loan to him. Now that the seven years are up, the boy has had to be returned. Jonson tries to argue that this is only fair and his presumptuous plans for the boy's future were the cause of his present sense of loss. He then questions his own grief: why lament the enviable state of death when the child has escaped suffering and the misery of aging? He cannot answer this question, simply saying "Rest in soft peace" and asking that the child, or perhaps the grave, record that his son was Jonson's "best piece of poetry," the creation of which he was most proud. He concludes by vowing that from now on he will be more careful with those he loves; he will be wary of liking and so needing them too much. Commentary: The poem is a moving exploration of a father's feelings on the loss of his son, made all the more poignant by the difference between its affectionate, resigned tone and Jonson's usually satirical and biting comic voice. About the poem The poem records and laments (expresses sorrow for) the death of the poet's first son. We call such poems elegies or describe them as elegiac. Jonson contrasts his feelings of sorrow with what he thinks he ought to feel - happiness that his son is in a better place. The death of...
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...Healthy Grieving: A Comparative Analysis Author Grand Canyon University: HLT 310 Summer 19, 2016 2 HEALTHY GRIEVING: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Stages of Grief Introduction Here in this essay we examine the stages of grief as defined by the renowned thanatologist Elizabeth KüblerRoss. In conjunction with this review of grief we will consider the work of Nicholas Wollsterstorff in his epic Lament for a Son, written to express his still lingering grief at the loss of his son Eric, who tragically fell to his death while mountainclimbing at the age of 25. As we study the process of grief, one must bear in mind that for people suffering grief a range of emotions will come to the forefront"disbelief, sadness, anger, guilt, and selfreproach, panic, anxiety, loneliness, listlessness, and apathy, shock, yearning, numbness, depersonalization" (Bruce 2007) . Also, one must remember that grief is a natural response to losing a loved one. While looking at grief’s lingering effects, we will also discover how Wolsterstorff managed to find meaning, even joy, after the loss of his son. Stages of the Grieving Process All people experience grief and mourn at the loss of a loved oneit is a universal experience. To understand the grieving process better, it helps to focus on the five stages of grief as proposed by KüblerRoss in response to one’s “own terminal illness, the loss of a close relationship, or the death of a valued human being” (Axelrod...
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...own way. In the written “Lament for a Son” we will go through the journey of a father’s loss of his son and how he goes through the stages of grief (Wolterstorff, 1987). Denial and isolation is the first stage of grief, in lament for a son it does not specifically discuss that he goes through specific denial. Denial is the first reaction most people have when learning of the death of a loved one (Axelrod, 2014). A person will just hear part of what the person is saying when they are being informed that a loved one as died, especially in an untimely death such as the one we read about a 25 year old dying while mountain climbing. This is usually the most temporary stage. Anger is the second stage and this when reality usually sets in and the pain and intense emotions arise (Grand Canyon University, 2015). Sometimes the anger is directed and the one who died sometimes it is at us for not spending enough time with the person who passed away. Some of the anger that was discussed was with how people try to console you, when they say “it’s really not so bad” or “I know how you are feeling (Wolterstorff, 1987).” Death is really that bad and there is no way anyone could know how another person is feeling in their own grief. Bargaining is the third stage of grief; this is the need to gain control of your feelings. Making deals with God if he would just bring your loved one back. In our story the father was wishing he would have paid more attention to his son; spend more time with him...
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...using Track Changes in Microsoft Word. Assess the paper on the following content: 1. Does the paper provide sufficient evidence for its hypothesis or claim? 2. Does the flow of the paper and sentence structure make sense? 3. Should it be organized in a different way? Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center. HLT 310V Week 4 Assignment 2 Stages of Grief Paper Max Points: 90 Details: Write a 750-1,000 word paper analyzing Woterstorff’s reflctions in Lament For a Son. In addition, address Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief, as they are expressed throughout Lament for a Son, and respond to the following questions: 1. How does Wolterstorff find joy after his loss? 2. What is the...
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...ON MY FIRST SONNE - This poem is an elegy. An Elegy is a sad and thoughtful poem mourning the death of a person. Benjamin is a Hebrew name. In Hebrew it means “child of the right hand” - the way Jonson refers to his son in the first line of the poem. The eldest son was always the most important child. He would sit at his father’s right hand at table and would expect to inherit most of his father’s property. Jonson had five children. They all died young. His son Benjamin, the subject of this poem, was born in 1596 and died in 1603 - Ben Jonson was away from home at the time and received a letter from his wife telling him that Benjamin had died of the plague. line 3 tho’ wert/thou wert - you were line 4 Exacted to exact payment is to demand or compel payment line 6 lament mourn, deplore, be sorry for line 11 hence-forth from this time onward FAREWELL, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sinne was too much hope of thee, loved boy. Seven yeeres tho’ wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. O, could I loose all father, now. For why Will man lament the state he should envie? To have so soone 'scaped worlds and fleshes rage, And, if no other miserie, yet age? Rest in soft peace, and ask’d, say here doth lye Ben. Jonson his best piece of poetrie, For whose sake, henceforth, all his vowes be such As what he loves may never like too much. ...
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...Lines 1-2 Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy. * The poem begins with the speaker saying "farewell" to his child. * The speaker also says his "sin" (or mistake) was that he had "too much hope" for his son. He implies that there is some connection between his love for the boy and the boy's death. That's odd. * The phrase "child of my right hand" is also kind of funny. It implies that the speaker's son was born from his right hand (weird, huh?). Or maybe this implies something about the speaker's favoritism toward his first-born? (Think of the phrase "my right-hand man.") * "Child of my right hand" also would indicate that the speaker's son is lucky. The right is always the good side; the left is the bad or sinister side. (In Latin, a language Jonson knew well, the word for left side is the same word that gives us sinister in English.) * As it turns out, Ben Jonson's first son was named Benjamin (just like his father), and in Hebrew Benjamin means "son of right hand." Okay, so maybe "child of my right hand" isn't so weird after all. But how many people really know what Benjamin means in Hebrew? Sheesh! * Finally, read these lines aloud. Go ahead. Nobody's looking. Notice anything? These lines are in a very famous rhythm: iambic pentameter. If you've read any Shakespeare (a friend of Jonson's), you should be picking up what we're putting down. * Basically, an iamb is a combination of one unstressed...
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...Unseen Analysis on the poem ‘Lament’ The poem ‘Lament’ can be seen as a series of things, which the poet is grieving for as a result of the destruction of war. The poem begins every stanza with the word “For” in order to suggest all the things, which the poet thinks the reader should feel sorrowful towards. The poem has a regular structure and comprises seven stanzas, all of which are three lines long. This regular structure allows the poet to explore specific things, in each stanza, which he believes are being impact upon by the destruction of war and the pollution it causes. Each line of the poem is end stopped and this disciplined form can be seen as paradoxical with the almost dystopian level of destruction, which is being described. The first stanza of the poem begins with the word “For,” in order to suggest the things, which the poet believes the reader should be lamenting for. The use of the present participle of the word “pulsing,” conveys to the reader a sense of the desperation of the turtle, by suggesting the energy with which it searches for a breeding ground. The personification of the word “burden,” suggests the distressing reality of the experience for the turtle, as she searches for a breading ground. The visual image of eggs laid in their “nest of sickness,” conveys a juxtaposition in the vitality and life fullness suggested by “eggs,” in contrast with the word “sickness,” which alludes to the unhealthiness of the turtle’s environment. Structurally...
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...Stages of Grief Paper Grand Canyon University Death, Dying, and Grief HLT-310V Gary Shields August 22, 2015 Stages of Grief Paper Grief is explained as a response to a loss. This loss is connected to the attachment to someone or something that bonded to an individual in an emotional way. In a book called Lament for a Son, the author is the father who suffered and experienced tremendous grief after the loss of his son Eric. He explains and expresses his frustrations with death, the sorrow he felt, the yearning he had for his son, and many other emotions felt in grief. There are many references to God and His plan for salvation and death. The author published his experiences to help others with the loss of their child. He says that he tries to puts words to what they are feeling, even though there are no words that can truly explain the grief that is felt. (Wolterstorff, 1987) There are five stages of grief that individuals go through after a loss. The first stage that is experienced is denial. Kubler-Ross explains this stage as able to endure the loss. Shock and denial overcome the person. There is a feeling of numbness and ponder of how they can move forward, and why would they go on. Denial helps with coping through these thought processes and make survival possible. The denial stage paces the feelings that occur with grief. This is considered nature’s way of allowing only as much as one can handle. When an individual begins to accept the reality of their loss, the...
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... I suppose with age does come wisdom, or at least the yearning for more. I have discovered that the second time around I am really here to learn, to think, to have conversations about the material studied. It is not just to reach an end goal of credit hours and graduation. Having said that, I wanted to know more about Joel even though you didn’t ask for it or particularly want it. Some of the additional facts I have learned will creep into this paper and I apologize but it just feels as if my understanding of the passage may not be complete without them. We begin by understanding what little we know about Joel. Joel is credited with writing the twenty-ninth book of the Bible, and the second book of the Minor Prophets. Joel was the son of a man named Pethuel. He was believed to have lived in the southern kingdom of Judah. Joel 1:13-14 indicates that Joel was preaching to the people of Judah. He made reference to the elders and the...
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...Spirituality in Health Care Xochitl Harris July 17, 2016 Stages of Grief In our lifetime at one point or another we will experience grief. We may grief a loss of a loved one, a pet, a relationship, a friendship. Grieving after a loss can come at anytime after the loss happened. Some times grieving may take some time to sink in. It may start six months after. Everyone grieves differently and at different times. A person has his or her own way of grieving and dealing with loss. Its important to understand the process of grieving. It will help understand what one is going through emotionally so that one can help someone going through this process. The five stages of grief are identified in this paper by analyzing the book “Lament for a Son” and how the author found joy after his loss (Wolterstorff, 1987). The author of this paper will also identify and explore the meaning and significance of death in the light of the Christian narrative, and how the hope of resurrection plays a role in comforting the author. Five Stages of Grief Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, the five stages of grief that one goes through after a loss significant to them are identified by Dr. Kubler-Ross. Every individual grief’s in his or her own way. There is no particular other to follow in the stages. One will experience one or the other, or may start all over again and repeat a stage. To grief is to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, a relationship or someone’s...
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...Stages of Grief Student Name Institution Stages of Grief The stages of grief and mourning are universal and every person in all lifestyles. Mourning and grief occurs in response to an individual’s own terminal illness, death of a loved one, and the loss of close relationship. Grief cans occur in five main stages such as denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages may occur in no neat progression, as these stages may keep on hitting back or just occur out of order. Consequently, the endeavor of this paper is to evaluate the various stages of grief as exhibited in “Lament for a Son” by Nicholas Wolterstorff. Denial and isolation marks the first stage of grief as Nicholas exhibits (David, Et al, Elisabeth, 2014). In this stage, Nicholas tries to deny the reality of the situation. After receiving the call meant to inform him of death of Eric, he goes to moment of silence where he dives into a sea of flashback of life he had spent with Eric. He remembers how Erick liked to worship with a genuine community and even sometimes asked him how they could know that God ever existed. He is unable to come into terms that Erick is no longer there. In his wild of flashback, he remembers how Erick used to cook, dress, and shook his hands, He himself wished he could die in order not see the inscapes of the world. Anger precedes denial and isolation as another stage of grief. In this stage, reality of the loss and pain it bring re-merges. Consequently...
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